The NIO has estimated the costs of 'Stormontgate', writes Gerry Moriarty, Northern Editor
The North's security minister, Mr Ian Pearson, has told the Ulster Unionist MP Lady Sylvia Hermon that the costs arising from the so-called "Stormontgate" alleged IRA intelligence-gathering operation is likely to be around £30 million.
It brought down the Northern executive and Assembly and led to republican claims that it was the victim of British and police dirty tricks and counter-claims that the IRA "just couldn't give up what it does best".
"Stormontgate" burst on to our TV screens and newspapers in October 2002 with pictures of lines of PSNI officers in riot gear piling into the Sinn Féin offices at Parliament Buildings on the Stormont estate. Nothing was found in these offices.
The real alleged clandestine business was happening about 150 yards down the hill in Castle Buildings, Stormont, where it is claimed an IRA spy ring was operating a huge intelligence gathering operation. There were also security swoops on houses in north and west Belfast. Overall, it is claimed, the police found a huge haul of material that the IRA had collected, some of which was of a sensitive or secret nature.
The information included the personal details of 1,426 prison staff, Mr Pearson said. This led to the re-housing of 454 prison staff, improved security arrangements for others, and numerous claims for compensation for stress.
That has cost £17 million to date and ultimately will probably cost £30 million, Mr Pearson said. When you take in all of "Stormontgate" the total cost could reach £100 million, claims Ulster Unionist Assembly member Mr Michael McGimpsey on "good authority". The NIO denies this.
Three Belfast men are still before the courts in relation to "Stormontgate": Denis Donaldson, Sinn Féin's head of administration at Stormont; his son-in-law Ciarán Kearney; and William Mackessy, a former Stormont porter.
In February this year charges against them of possessing documents of a secret, confidential or restricted nature originating from the Northern Ireland Office were withdrawn. This prompted further claims that "Stormontgate" was always a sham.
However, the three men still face serious charges of possessing documents useful to terrorists, which could carry prison sentences of 10 years.
There are obvious sensitive sub judice issues here and ultimately it will be for the courts to decide - if it ever comes to court. But "Stormontgate" on a broader scale has had a very damaging effect on the body politic.
When "Stormongate" erupted in October 2002, David Trimble led his party out of the executive, resulting in the collapse of devolution, which the parties and governments have been trying to resurrect ever since.
One question being asked is why the first charge of possessing secret NIO documents was dropped. One month after "Stormontgate" broke, the BBC quoted a senior security source claiming that the breaking of the alleged spy ring was assisted by a police agent operating "deep within the IRA". This prompted suggestions that the reason the charge was abandoned was that it could compromise the reported agent.
Officially, however, the line is that the charge was dropped because it is subsumed in the second charge of gathering information useful to terrorists.
What also is curious about the affair is that the then Northern Secretary, Dr John Reid, knew about the spy ring for several months before the police struck. Why did he not order an immediate crackdown on the IRA? Because the security and intelligence services believed there was more to be gained by observing the IRA incriminating itself, sources say.
It was also hoped that an IRA head of intelligence in Belfast might be caught bang to rights, they add. He wasn't.
Sinn Féin has repeatedly said the whole affair was an example of Special Branch dirty tricks designed to damage the republican movement and the political process. "It's like this," says a Sinn Féin spokesman. "Special Branch doesn't like republicans and will use any chance it can to kick us in the teeth. It's like those Japanese soldiers in the second World War who stayed in the jungle for 40 or 50 years. They couldn't accept the war was over - just like the Special Branch."
The SDLP's Mr Alex Attwood also has some dirty tricks queries around "Stormontgate" but says he is in no doubt that the IRA did operate an intelligence gathering operation at Stormont.